September 25, 2012
CLEANER WRASSE BEHAVIOUR IN MOOREA, FRENCH POLYNESIA
Posted as a courtesy only. Please do not contact me about this opportunity—Dida
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY—CLEANER WRASSE BEHAVIOR IN MOOREA, FRENCH POLYNESIA. Oct.7 deadline
A volunteer field assistant is required for a period of 3 months from the first week of December 2012 to the first week of March 2013 to help with research on the cooperative behavior of the bicolor cleaner wrasse (Labroides bicolor). This project is based on the tropical island of Moorea, French Polynesia in the South Pacific. This is a PhD research project based at the University of Cambridge
The primary goal of this trip is to conduct experiments on wild-caught fish housed in outdoor aquaria, in order to investigate the mechanisms that control cooperation, and prevent the destabilisation of the cooperation through excessive cheating. The volunteer’s work will involve catching fish from the local reefs and keeping them in aquaria, setting up and maintaining the experimental aquaria, and running experimental trials. There will also be a fair amount of field observation alongside this.
Graduates with at least a Bachelor’s degree in biology/ecology are preferred. Successful applicants must be qualified divers to a minimum standard of PADI Rescue Diver or equivalent, and possess their own dive equipment (excluding weights and tanks), and have current CPR and Oxygen administration certification. Some experience of scientific diving and boat handling is strongly preferred. Experience working with marine biology or behavioral research is also preferable. Moorea is a French speaking island, so some ability to speak French is useful, although not required.
Volunteers will be provided with accommodation, but no salary can be paid. Applicants will need to arrange and fund a return flight to Papeete, Tahiti themselves, but internal travel by taxi/ferry to Moorea will be reimbursed, and pick-up from the ferry dock on Moorea can also be arranged.
If you are interested in this field assistant position, email Max Gray, to submit an application or to request more details on the project.
The application deadline is 7th October (late applications may be considered). Please include in your application email details of when you are contactable for a Skype video interview.
Posted by Dida at September 25, 2012 7:44 AM
